Exam practice
Exam questions
Write your answer. Then open the mark scheme and tick each point you made.
- Question 1 of 102 marks
Name the male part of a flower and the female part of a flower.
Mark scheme
- Male: stamen
- Female: carpel
- Question 2 of 102 marks
State the function of (a) an anther and (b) a stigma.
Mark scheme
- Anther: makes pollen (accept: makes the male sex cells)
- Stigma: where pollen lands (accept: catches the pollen)
- Question 3 of 102 marks
State what is meant by pollination.
Mark scheme
- The transfer of pollen
- From an anther to a stigma (accept: from the male part of a flower to the female part)
- Question 4 of 102 marks
Give two differences between a typical insect-pollinated flower and a typical wind-pollinated flower.
Mark scheme
- Petals: large and bright in an insect-pollinated flower, small and dull in a wind-pollinated flower
- Scent and nectar: an insect-pollinated flower has them, a wind-pollinated flower does not
- Pollen: sticky or spiky in an insect-pollinated flower, light and smooth (and much more of it) in a wind-pollinated flower
- Anthers and stigma: inside an insect-pollinated flower, hanging outside a wind-pollinated flower (accept: feathery stigma in a wind-pollinated flower)
- Question 5 of 103 marks
A pollen grain has landed on a stigma. Describe what happens next, up to and including fertilisation.
Mark scheme
- A pollen tube grows out of the pollen grain
- Down the style to an ovule (accept: to the ovary)
- The male nucleus joins with the female nucleus
- Question 6 of 102 marks
After fertilisation, state what (a) an ovule becomes and (b) the ovary becomes.
Mark scheme
- Ovule: a seed
- Ovary: the fruit
- Question 7 of 102 marks
A seed contains an embryo and a food store. State the job of each.
Mark scheme
- Embryo: grows into the new plant
- Food store: feeds the young plant as it starts to grow (accept: until it can make its own food by photosynthesis)
- Question 8 of 102 marks
A sycamore seed has a papery wing. Suggest how the seed is dispersed, and explain how the wing helps.
Mark scheme
- By the wind
- The wing makes the seed fall slowly (accept: spin, or more air resistance), so the wind carries it further
- Question 9 of 102 marks
Explain why seed dispersal helps the parent plant and its offspring to survive.
Mark scheme
- There is less competition between the parent and the young plants (accept: between the young plants)
- For light, water, space or minerals (any one named)
- Question 10 of 103 marks
A student drops paper spinners with different wing lengths in front of a fan. She measures how far each one travels. Name (a) the independent variable, (b) the dependent variable and (c) one variable she should keep the same.
Mark scheme
- Independent: the wing length
- Dependent: the distance travelled
- Control: the height of the drop, the speed of the fan, the distance from the fan or the mass of the spinner (any one)